Product Description

Shadows over Camelot is a unique collaborative game featuring a malevolent twist! As the incarnation of the Knights of the Round Table, you join forces against the game itself in an attempt to protect Camelot.

Your victory hinges on the successful completion of legendary Quests, such as the search for Excalibur, the Holy Grail, or Lancelot's Armor; the tournament against the Black Knight; and numerous wars against the Saxons and Picts.

But beware... all is not as it seems among these noble Knights. One of your number might yet turn out to be a traitor-in-waiting, biding his time while sowing havoc and destruction from the Shadows!

Product Reviews

I resisted this game for a long time. I purchased a much hyped
cooperative game several years ago and was extremely disappointed. I
like the fun of competing anyway, so I wasn't sure that any such game
would interest me.

This game is a blast. The aspect of a traitor in your midst, gives an
uneasy feeling. That is, if there is a traitor... Going on
quests, sacrificing for the good of Camelot and your fellow knights.
Do I leave Camelot and try to complete the quest to fight the Saxons,
when if one more Saxon shows up I'll get the brunt of it.

Should I lose a life point rather than risk drawing a despair card
that will deprive us of the Holy Grail and put three black swords on
the round table.
Somebody better get rid of those siege engines.

Days of Wonder seems to be consistent in putting some of the best
games on the market.

Shadows Over Camelot is a very different sort of game, it
requires the players to work together against the game, and at
this it works brilliantly. Added to the fun and tension is the
additional possibility that one of the knights (the players) may
actually be a traitor, secretly working to bring Camelot to
destruction and ruin. This additional tension makes the game a
riotous experience, and great fun, any simple mistake, any action
that even looks slightly dodgy will get the other players looking
at you with the question in their eyes ‘are you a traitor?’

Shadows Over Camelot is a brilliant game for people who enjoy
the human aspect to board gaming; with rules about the ways in
which Knights can communicate, the game also inspires a fair
share of role-playing, and can be extremely tense. In order to
enjoy the game properly players need to make an attempt to
play the game the way it is designed to be played, this includes
communicating according to the rules of collaboration as laid out
in the rule book and playing within the spirit of the game.

Shadows Over Camelot does much to invoke the style and theme
of Arthurian legend, the players are knights faced with the
challenge of many quests, many of them extremely dangerous.
These quests, if won by the knights, do much to restore faith in
the legendary round table, if failed they cause yet more faith to
be lost. The good and bad faith (as I like to see it) is
represented by white and black swords, which are placed about
the round table during the game, and form the scoring
mechanism at the end of the game. If the knights have managed
to get more white than black swords (and haven’t all died, or
allowed Camelot to fall), then they win the day, if black swords
number as many or more than the white, then the legend of
glorious Camelot is cast down and faith in the brave knights is
forever broken.

Shadows Over Camelot is one of the most enjoyable and
interesting games I have played, it is not a tactical gem in the
style of ‘Go’ or ‘Tigris and Euphrates’ (although good tactics must
play a part), it is a game to be enjoyed, savoured, and
experienced. If you believe that games should be played so that
a group of friends can sit down and have a great time, then
Shadows Over Camelot is for you. This is one of the best games
I own, and certainly one of the most enjoyable gaming
experiences my game collection can provide.

Anyways, Shadows over Camelot, believe it or not, it's
not as dorky as
it might sound (okie, still pretty dorky). If you've played
the game
and understand the rules, you can explain it to someone in
about 10
minutes. I know 10 minutes is still a pretty steep amount of
time,
especially if you have friends like mine.

The game is undoubtedly one of the best co-op games I've
ever played,
and I've played a few in my time let me tell'ya. The game is
extremely
rich in components, the little siege engines to the knights
themselves. The board is layed out in a great way that is
managable as
long as you have a table that is about 2 and a half foot by
2 and a
half foot.

The game requires that players play in a type of secrecy
about their
cards and actions, other-wise it's extremely easy for the
knights to
win. The only downside I see to this game is that after
perhaps 30-40
games it can be predictable, but hey, I've played it perhaps
20 times
now, and it's still fun.